Method of erecting airships



Nov. 31925.

1,559,807 H. v. THADEN v METHOD OF ERECTING AIRSHIPS Filed Jan. 16, 19254 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 3, 1.925. 1,559,807

H.' V. THADEN METHOD OF ERECTING AIRSHIPS Filed Jan. 16, 1925 4Sheets-Sheet 2 J/erer/ V @0027, @51

Nov. 3 1925. I H: V. THADEN METHOD OF ERECTING AIRSHIPS Filed Jan. .6,1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 jg. 1a

Nov. 3, 1925- I 1,559,807

H. V. THADEN METHOD OF EREGTING AIRSHIPS Filed Jan 16, 1925 4Sheets-Sheet SMIUCMJ'OL firer/ V @aZ/efQ Patented Nov. 3, 1925.

- UNITED STATES HERBERT V. THADEN, OF DETR.OIT,'MICHIGAN.

METHOD or ERECTING AIRSHIPS.

Application filed January To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT V. YTHADEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of ErectingAirships, of which the followingis a specification, reference being ha'dtherein to the accompanying drawings. 1

This invention relates to an improved method of erecting large rigidairships.

There have been in the past two general methods of erecting large rigidairships, which for convenience can be termed the German method and theEnglish method.-

The German practice has been to build up the transverse frames on radialjigs horizontally on the floor. The completed wired frames were thenpicked up, either directly by means of rope slings, or were temporarilylashed to a stiff handling frame, turned into a vertical position andplaced along the longitudinal axis of the ship. Shoring below, andsuspension from the hangar roof held the frame in position until thelongitudinals were riveted into place. 7 1 A Workmen placing thesegirders were lowered to position in boatswain chairs or on hangingplatforms. The erection started amidships, with the whole workprogressing toward both ends.

The English practice was to build up the hull in bays which, whencompleted, were placed end to end and secured together.

Each bay comprised several transverse ring.

frames, each of which was fabricated horiv z'ontally on a radial jig onthe hangar floor, and on completion was raised vertically in the hangar.Longitudinals were dropped from it to the next transverse frame beingbuilt undeneath, and thusly for two or three bays. The completed.structure, standing vertically, was rigidly cross-braced, and thentipped over and placed end to end along the axis of the ship in acradle. At this stage the procedure differed in some instances. In somecases the structure was completed by spanning the gap between sectionswith longitudinals, and workmenv were sent aloft to do the riveting. Inother cases, a now obsolete method was used in which small rollers weretemporarily secured at the intersection of each transverse 16, 1925.Serial No. 2,784.

ring and longitudinal girder before the unit bays were placed in thecradle. The cradle was provided with rails forming a circular are shapedtrack to fit the lower quadrant of the ships cross-section, and thetemporary rollers were adapted to travel upon these rails, permittingthe entire ship to be rotated upon its lon itudinal axis. This had theadvantage, 0 enabling the -workmen to remain on the ground at all times,the unfinished portion of the hull being pulled around to them. Thismethod does not lend itself as well to streamline hulls as it does tohulls with long parallel portions because of the multiplicity of varyingradii of the cradle transverse frames, and the increased difiiculty ofali nment. The work however is facilitated y this method as comparedwith the method where the workmen are sent aloft and are required to doextremely accurate work An object of the present invention is to providea method of erection of airships, especially all-metal airships, wherebythe work is facilitated. and greater accuracy secured, and by whichmethod the entire ship is erected in situ, that is, by adding portionsprogressively to the completed part to complete the entire structure inp ace, thus obviating the erection of sub-assemblies, moving thesesub-assemblies to place and connecting them with thecom leted part withthe consequent liability o accidents, warping or springing ofthe-structure and consequent inaccuracies in construction. A furtherobject is to facilitate the handling and pla'cin of the parts andmaterials, and to insure the accurate formation of the parts by reducingto a minimum the necessity of going'aloft to perform any of the work,the entire ship being erected from the floor of the hangarwhere all ofthe parts may be accurately formed upon jigs, templates and benches, andcarried to and secured in place Within the structure, with the workmenworking from the floor of the hangar. Further objects are to secureaccuracy, as in the present method permanent reference lanes may beestablished from which to take measurements; also to facilitate rivetingor fastening the skin or covering of an all metal airship in place uponthe exterior of the framing; also to effect a great saving in the costof jig and cradle construction and in the placing of the internalbracing and other parts. It is a further object to provide certain othernew and useful features in the method and means for performing the same,all as herematter more fully described.

With the above and other ends in view the invention consists in thematters hereinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out in theappended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings inwhich Figure 1 is a side elevation of a large rigid all metal airship,the sheet metal skin or covering of the ship being shown as partlybroken away for the purpose of showing the construction;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a section of airship framing,illustrative of the method embodying the present inventidn and showing aseries of transverse ring sections connected by longitudinal girders andtogether forming a sectional portion of the entire framing of theairship; Fig. 3 is a transverse, section through a nearly, completedairship showing the internal jig construction; 1

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a longitudinal verticalsection though a hangar with a partly completed airship under course ofconstruction therein together with the method of raising and supportingthe completed portions of the airship while the uncompleted portions areadded thereto in the course of construction;

Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 are diagrammaticcrosssections of a hangar and anairship in the course of construction therein, rto 'show-i the ship inseveral stages of its construction for the purpose of illustrating amethod embodymg-the present invention, and

Figs. 9, 10 and 11 are similar diagrammatic views illustrating thepresent method as applied to the erection of. ships of a different typeand of smaller dimensions, the

several figures illustrating the structure in different stages in thecourse of its construction.

The present method is applicable to the l erection of large structureairships of any type orform of construction, but is particularlyadaptable in the erection of metal airships where practically all of theparts are to be riveted or fastened together, including theahull oroutside skln. A great amount of liar'idwork is necessitated, andthecomplete ship divided by imaginary horizontal planes, the first segmentbeing all of that portion of the ship above the first dividing planewhich may be at any suitable distance below the highest part of the sideor end of the ship, as for example, six feet. The first segment orportion therefore represents that portion of the ship lying above anarbitrary horizontal sectional plane of the ship, and if the ship bestreamlined or of low resistance form as shown in the drawings, thisportion will taper out at each end. This topmost segment or portion iserected first and upon a temporary jig upon the hangar floor. The entirestructure of this segment, including the curved upper portions oftransverse ring girders, longitudinal girders, skin and all fittings, iscompleted upon the hangar floor, and wires or other members are thendropped from the roof of the I hangar and secured at convenient pointsto this completed segment. which is then raised bodily together with itsinternal jig from the floor, by means of suitable winches to which wiresare attached. The completed portion is raised to a height from the floorequal to f each succeeding portion until the entire ship structure iscompleted. The ship is therefore; erecteda-in situ that is,.each sue?ceeding segment or part is built beneaththe preceding completed portion,which when completed is lifted as a whole from the floor "a suflicientdistance to permit the next succeeding part or segmental section to;

be built underneath. Thus the ship literally rises from thefioor, theworkmen remaining ceeding parts of girders and other members to thecompleted portionsabove and fastening the skin in place as the hull isintermittently raised in the hangar. When the hull is completed, theinternal temporary jig is removed and replaced ,by permanent 1nternalbracing. The removal, ofthese'uin on the floor and placing and fittingthe sucternal jigs is so co-ordinated with-the insertion of the internalbracing that no serious lack of support will at any time exist in thestructure.

In order to practice the present method of erection, the hangar rooftrussing is preferably provided with a monorail (2) extendinglongitudinally of the hangar and within the longitudinal centerlinevertical plane of the ship when completed. A series of winches (3) iscarried by the monorail (2), and a cable (4) drops from each winch. Tothe lower end of each cable is attached a cross beam (5), and from thesecross beams wires are let down in the properly spaced relation forattachment to the ship segment below.

With this equipment, the completed part of the ship may be convenientlyraised the desired distance. Accuracy in erection and structure will besecured by frequent sighting with leveling instruments and alignment ofthe hull with the adjustable winches, assuring the correction of anylocal deflections due to temperature or physica changes in the hangarstructure.

The floor of the hangar should be of permanent character not subject tolocal variations due to physical or temperature changes, while the firststep in the erection of the ship should be to establish permanentreference planes upon this floor. If the floor is insufiiciently stablein a fixed plane, it will be necessary to install a series of basemembers (6) having an adequate bearing surface and which members may beprovided with means, not shown, for adjustment so that the uppersurfaces thereof may always be maintained in exact and proper alignmentto form accurate reference planes. These base members extendtransversely to the longitudinal axis of the ship, and in the verticalplanes of the several transverse main frames of the ship. They will alsobe of a greater length than the diameter of the ship at the severaltransverse frames to be erected upon these base members.

, Upon each of these reference foundations or base members, a templatejig is erected for the topmost section of the hull or the,

first portion to be erected. This jig which is indicated as a whole bythe numeral (7') in Fig. 2 is preferably formed from light pipe ortubing provided with flanged fittings for convenience in securing theparts together and suflicient wire cross-bracing to insure.

longitudinal and transverse rigidity. The vertical members (8) of thisjig may if desired, terminate at each intersection of a transverse orring girder (9) with a longitudinal girder (10) .of the ships frame. Asuitable fitting at each of these points faciliates' the securing of thejig framing to the 'ships girders. The accuracy of location of thesefittings or points of intersection is facilitated by the simplicity anddirectness of measurement of each ordinate and a bay width oflongitudinal girder being 7 built up complete. These are fitted togetherat the required angles with the outer sides of the girders following thecontour of the hull. Both the longitudinal and transverse girders willcontinue as far around the contour of the hull, as their intersectionwith the hangar floor or base members will permit.

After or during the assembly of the girders upon the template jig asillustrated in 8 Fig. 2, the sheet metal covering consisting of stripsor plates are riveted together in place upon this framing, each stripbeing previously accurately cut to size by the aid of a templateconstructed on the hangar floor, or by geometrically projecting thesepanels into-a fiat plane and cutting the sheets to size while lying flaton the floor, or by taking their dimensions direct from the mold loftprojection. After this sheet metal coverin has been secured in placeover the framing of the completed portion, all valve reinforcements andother fittings usually employed in structures of this character and notshown in the accompanying drawings, are secured in place in the sheetmetal covering, and when everything is completed, this topmost segmentis raised vertically by attaching the wires (11) which are dropped fromthe transverse beams g5),

to the several transverse ring girders 9), preferably at their severalpoints of intersection with theseveral longitudinalgirders (10).

At a given signal the several beams are simultaneously lifted verticallyand uniformly, lifting the entire completed hull segmental portion andthe attached internal template jig (7) from the base members (6), untilthe structure is raised to' a height equal to the depth of the nextsucceeding hull portion to be built. The template jig is then continuedon down to the reference foundations. The girders forming continuationsof the girders of the first segmental portion, are then secured in placeupon this jig, and to .the ends of the girders of the first unit orportion, and the skin and fittings riveted in place to complete thissec- 0nd portion or unit which is a contin ation of the designed contouror surface curvature of the first unit. Subsequent portions, or unitsare constructed in a like manner beneath the completed portions, overtemplate .jigs made up by adding struts and bracing members to the jigabove, the operations continuing until the entire hull has used.Further, as each unit or portion is preferably short in height, eachunit of hull and jig may be conveniently constructed from the floor ofthe hangar and accurate measurements made from the fixed referenceplanes or base members, and due to the construction of this jig, it maybe read ily removed from the interior of the hull, parts of the jigbeing removed after the hull has been completed down to the bottom ofits keel and immediately replaced by the permanent internal bracingwires (not shown) of the hull. Below the main keels of the ship, anoutside jig is constructed in the same or a similar manner as the insidejig and serves as a continuation of the internal jig through theuncompleted lower side of the hull, as illustrated in Fig. 3. It may benecessary to -'cross brace between the main keels until the lowergirders are riveted in place, and if so, that part ofthe initial jig maybe left in place. v.

The extreme ends of the hull, the bow and stern caps of a hullconstructed in horizontal position, may be "fabricated on the floor ofthe'hangar and hoisted to and secured in place after practically all ofthe internal work of the hull has been completed.

In Figs. 9, 10 and 11, the present method of erection is shown asapplied to the building of rigid airships of smaller dimensions orlesser length than the ship illustrated in Fig. 1, and in constructingthese smaller ships it may befound advantageous to erect them in avertical, instead of a horizontal position; scribed by adding successiveunits or portions, the difference being that the first unit will be anend unit of the hull instead of a side unit, and the ship will bedivided by planes extending transversely instead of longitudinally tothe axis of the ship. Each unit may include one or more transverse ringgirders and the first or end unit will be built upon base members or areference plane which may be the floor (14.) of the hangar, and thisunit will. be constructed upon an internal jig of a construction similarto the ig previously described. Suc- They are then built up as dea (ledto the first, the completed unit or units being raised vertically withinthe hangar (15) by means of -wires (16) con-' nected at one end to thering girders (17) ofthe first and succeeding adjacent units. The wiresare attached to a suitable member (18) adapted to be raised or loweredby means of cables (19) running over pulleys (20) attachedto the rooftrussing of the hangar.

After the first portion or unit has been completed, including itstransverse girders (17) and longitudinals (21), skin covering and allfittings, this unit is raised together with its internal jig, verticallya distance above the floor equal to the depth of the next unit. Then thejig is continued to the floor to form a jig for the succeeding unitwhich is then fabricated thereon, and the operation repeated until thefull length of ship is completed in a vertical suspended position. Theentire completed hull is then lowered and turned to a horizontalposition.

The method of erection is however, essentially the same in both verticalaxis and horizontal axis positioning of the ship, as each portion orunit of the entire hull is fabricated in situ by erecting eachsucceeding portion below the preceding completed portions and ifnecessary, upon a jig (not shown) which is continued downwardly to forma jig for each succeeding portion to be built. v

\Vhat I claim is 1. The method of erecting airships which consists individing the entire ship into units by imaginary horizontal planes,completing the uppermost unit, raising said completed unit verticallyand adding successively succeeding units. I

2. The method of erecting airships'which consists in building successiveportions of the ship beginning with an upper portion and successivelyraising the finished portion to add succeeding portions thereto frombelow.

3. The method of eredting airships which consists in first building anupper unit. portion of the ship upon a ground support, then raising thecompleted unit vertically a distance to permit the building of asucceeding unit beneath and integral there- .with, and buildingsuccessively succeeding.

units integral with the completed portion and raising, upon thecompletion of each unit, the completed portion from the ground support adistance equal to the depth of the next succeeding unit. 4. The methodof building airships which consists in first building an upper portionof the ship upon a jig upon a ground support and successively raisingthe comceeding portions of said ship and jig be neath the completedportion and its ig.

' 5. The method of building airships which consists in establishingareference plane upon a ground support, building a portion of the. shipon said reference plane by measurements taken therefrom, raising saidportion vertically, and building anadditional portion beneath saidraised portion .by measurements from said plane.

, 6. The method of building airships which consists in establishing areference plane upon a ground support, erecting a jig above said planefrom measurements taken from upon said jig, raising said completedportion and its jig vertically from said referaddedportions and theirjigs attached to said completed portion and its jig.

In testimony whereof I afiiz; my signature.

HERBERT THADEN.

[said plane, erecting a portion of the ship

